Zone or not, Huskies must improve defensively

Really, though, the uprising against the Huskies’ increased use of the zone in their most recent loss to Oregon – UW’s third in a row – may be a tad misguided.

Romar said at his Tuesday meeting with the media that the Ducks made nine of their 22 field goal attempts when the Huskies used zone in the first half, a number Romar didn’t seem too terribly disappointed with.

It was actually when UW switched to man-to-man later in the half when Oregon started making its shots, Romar said, though that’s a much smaller sample size.

Regardless, don’t expect the Huskies to just scrap the zone. But expect them to emphasize more of the aspects of it that can actually allow them to be successful, which would be a change from the defensive effort they’ve put forth the last four times they’ve taken the floor (all losses except for a win over Arizona State three weekends ago).

“The intensity and the focus is what needs to happen,” Romar said. “You can be successful sometimes and forget, as they say, what butters your bread, and think that because maybe we can make threes or because we’re athletic that things are just going to happen on the defensive end.

“No. It takes a lot of hard work on a consistent basis to be a good defensive team. Again, I thought with the exception of the last four games, we were a pretty good defensive team. And still with the lapse in the last four games, we still have our best field-goal percentage defense that we’ve had since we’ve been here, in spite of the last four games. We know what to do. We just have to make sure we come out and pay attention and do it.”

Problem is, they think they have been doing it. Until they watch film, that is, and realize just how much energy they’ve been lacking on the defensive end.

So how do they correct it?

“Getting out and playing like we’re used to playing – denying wings, just little things like that,” junior point guard Isaiah Thomas said. “Nobody’s like a liability on defense. We’re just not giving the full effort that we can. We’ve seen it on tape. It’s embarrassing how you think you’re giving your all and you’re really not. We’re fixing things (from) this weekend, and we’ll get it right by Thursday.”

Those film sessions must have been a blast.

“We’ve seen it. We’ve watched film on it,” senior forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning said. “I think it just came to a point where you don’t realize how it looks until you see it yourself. I don’t think guys are intentionally going out saying they’re not going to work hard …They think they have been, and once you see it on film you’re like, I can be working harder. I should be working harder. Just a little bit of both. Not letting guys blow by you, giving up easy buckets, being in the right position, when the ball’s in this area of the court you should be there, and just not being there.”

That applies to when they’re playing zone or man-to-man. UW’s athleticism lends itself to an aggressive defensive style, which is what the Huskies have shown when they really man-up against teams and cause turnovers to fuel their offense.

“I think we’re just used to playing man because that’s what we’ve done the last few years,” Bryan-Amaning said. “When we’re playing with the right amount of energy and intesntity, people know what we can do. … We’ve adjusted I think to playing more zone, but I think our bread and butter’s man, and as a team we feel that. We know that. We just need to bring the right attitude and effort.”

But Romar said some players can fall into the trap of thinking a possession of zone defense gives a chance to take a bit of a break, since there are no individual assignments and you’re not obligated to follow a particular player around the court.

“That’s not your time to rest,” Romar said. “You have to be just as intense in a zone defense as you are in a man defense.”

They’d better ditch that attitude quick, if it exists, because Romar gave no indication that he’s going away from the zone any time soon. He likes the dynamic look it gives UW’s defense, and it’s an effective way to combat foul trouble or a lack of depth on the front line.

And it helps with mismatches, too. Romar said the Huskies wanted to control Oregon forward Joevan Catron, so they started the game in a zone to limit his touches and disallow him from setting up on the block against a man defense.

It worked, for a while. Catron had just four of his team-high 20 points in the first half, and then skewered the Huskies when they went man-to-man in the second.

But at least their defensive performances prior to this poor stretch have been solid enough to provide a source of hope. Even with those four outings factored in, Washington is still second in the Pac-10 in field-goal percentage defense at 41.1 percent.

For those wondering, California, the Huskies’ Thursday opponent, is fifth in the league in field-goal shooting at 45.1 percent.

“If we come out and we’re not competitive, then we haven’t learned our lesson,” Romar said. “If we come out with a fire, come out and play right, regardless of what the score is … then we’re focused the right way, and we have to build from there.”

NOTES

Romar said junior forward Darnell Gant is expected to play Thursday. Gant played just five minutes against Oregon after bruising his quadriceps against Oregon State.